Marulaon Woman's Daybook

Just for today...Monday, February 2

From the learning rooms...Benjamin starts Geometry today, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is Sarah and Benjamin's reader for the week; Katherine begins a much needed unit on American money; Olivia finishes up her study of the Middle East.

Outside my window...the well just down the hill from us.  It's less briny than usual because of all the rain we've had lately.

A heart full of gratitude...for the Solomon Island marine department who issued a warning for all ships to stay in harbor tonight because of the high winds and rains anticipated tonight.

One of my favorite things...my kids who are so willing to go out and play with the Marulaon kids.  I'm so proud of them.

On my bookshelf..."The Kate Greenaway Book:  A Collection of Illustration, Verse and Text" by Bryan Holme.  My mom found this out of print book at a used book sale and gave it to Sarah as a birthday present several years ago.  I'm loving the sweet illustrations of this artist that I never knew existed! 

Crafting in the kitchen...yogurt and granola for breakfast, chicken pilau (recipe from "More With Less") for lunch, and, my personal favorite, the ubiquitous leftovers for supper.

Around the house...we often get asked what our village house looks like.  It's the nicest house village house I've ever seen, and I'm so very thankful for the family who lived here before us and began to build this house.  I love the blue we chose for the walls of our bedroom, and my little corner nightstand holds my fan, my Mary Engelbreit calendar, and my African violet I bought in Honiara. 

Pondering these words..."Life is likely to hold many forms of torture and dismay for that unhappy person and for all who refuse to receive with thanksgiving instead of complaint the place in life God has chosen for them.  The torture is self-inflicted, for God has not rejected their prayers.  He knows better than any of us do what furthers our salvation.  Our true happiness is to be realized precisely through his refusals which are always mercies.  His choice is flawlessly contrived to give the deepest kind of joy as soon as it is embraced."  ~Elisabeth Elliot

A peek into my corner of the world...with all of the rain we've had in the last week, we haven't been able to get out and about to visit with our neighbors as much as we would like.  Both yesterday and today, we've enjoyed a break in the rain of an hour or two in mid-afternoon.  We found Barrett was cooking pancakes as a quick afternoon snack for several little ones.

Sunday, February 1

Tool #1

Pray for Open Doors

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message...."  Colossians 4:2-3 (NIV)

Open doors can't be taken for granted.  Many missionaries work in countries that are difficult to access or in areas that are resistant to the gospel.  But "open doors" include more than just access to nations and people groups.  Individuals' hearts also need to be open and receptive to God's truth.

• Pray that God will open doors of ministry, blessing partnerships and friendships.
• Pray that those who serve will be led by the Holy Spirit and recognize open-door opportunities.
• Pray that God will lead His people past barriers to hearts ready to receive His Word.

Saturday, January 31

Seven Prayer Tools

"Pray for Missionaries:  Seven prayer tools from the apostle Paul" is still my favorite brochure that the Wycliffe USA prayer department produces.  Since we're in the village, I can't go online and link anything, I'll share the text over the next several days.  The pictures are from our own wonderful Marulaon Village.

Partners in Prayer

The apostle Paul was a missionary and a man of prayer.  He prayed for those without Christ, for the believers and for the new churches established under his ministry.

He also asked the believers to pray for him:  "Dear friends, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.  Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit."  Romans 15:30 (NLT)

Paul knew prayer would bring results:  "He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us.  As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people's prayers for our safety have been answered."  2 Corinthians 1:11 (NLT)

In his letters, Paul gave specific prayer requests for which believers should pray.  As a prayer partner with those who are called to go, you too will have an impact that can reach around the world.  Paul's prayer requests can serve as a tool for praying with effectiveness and understanding.

Thursday, January 29

Sarah made a batch of banana muffins to share with our neighbors today.  One of the geckos who lives in our house has a sweet tooth, and that tooth is particularly attuned to the taste of banana muffins and banana muffin batter.  For years, we have watched this gecko sneak up to the dirty dishes to lick the batter off bowls and spoons or creep along the counter to eat the crumbs left from our breakfast of banana bread.

This morning "Pat the Pet", as we affectionately call him, found the batter clinging to the dirty dishes delicious as always.  Even funnier, when he turned around and saw his reflection in the coffee press, his tail stiffened and he froze for several minutes.

He finally returned to licking the utensils clean before we shooed him away to clean up.
After school, I delivered banana muffins to six households.  I have to go in order around the village, or I forget which house has received the goodies.  I found little Mitchell (isn't she a cutie?) and her mama, Isabella, sitting at my friend Ofoaen's house, next door to their own house.

When I delivered muffins to Margaret, she asked for some pain meds.  When I returned with the meds, I also brought my notebook and a pen so I could squeeze in a little bit of language learning. 

I focused on what we call predicate adjectives in English.  The grammar here is totally different, though.  Adjectives like cold or afraid take masculine, feminine, and plural endings, but they also can become intransitive verbs.  So I can say, "Inu nagea?" (You afraid?) to a female friend, or I can say, "Nageare!" (Afraid!) when a little one is afraid of me.  I'm setting up frames to try out patterns and to learn new words.

Wednesday, January 28

Market this morning was wonderful.  My neighbors kept telling me how happy they were that I was back so they could make a little bit of money, and I kept telling them how happy I was that they brought fruits and veggies to market! 
Nobody brought green beans to market, so I took a quick walk out to my garden to see if any green beans had survived the cyclones.  The poles had all fallen down, but I found a small handful of beans.  When I returned to the house, Eta met me with two very ripe breadfruit which she said needed to be motued with four coconuts worth of coconut cream.  Immediately.

Then she grinned at me and said, "There's your kalimeta!"  I turned around, and sure enough, another friend was standing there with a little boy in one arm and a HUGE bowl of kalimeta critters in the other arm.  Sammy, her little boy, had sores thickly clustered all over his diaper area and scattered across his shoulders, too.  She was coming to ask me to treat him, just like I treated his sister in November.  I repeated my "fancy" treatment - gave them a bar of soap and some laundry detergent to make sure the boy and all of his bedding and clothes were clean.  I also gave him a dose of Benadryl to help with the itching so he wouldn't scratch and spread the sores.  The best medicine?  I prayed with him and his mama before I sent them home.

Aaron's list of things to tackle included replacing our worn out rain tank on the front of the house.  This tank is specifically for the neighbors to use, but over the last six years, it has rusted and developed several leaks.  We drew a crowd as Benjamin and Aaron banged around, and thankfully, the crowd helped move the small rain tank up on the platform.  They also help bring the 1000 gallon tank up from the beach.

The new rain tank was taller than the old one, so Benjamin had to saw the pipe to fit.  Ofoaen helped every step of the way.  She held the pipe still while Benjamin sawed, she held the empty rain tank steady while Benjamin leaned on it to reattach the pipe to the gutter.  She noticed that the the place where Aaron wanted to put the bigger rain tank was underneath a coconut tree, not a wise place to be when coconuts could fall and damage the tank.  I just love her!
The kids started back to school today, and they were willing workers when faced with the huge bowl of sea creatures to extract and coconuts to scrape.  Our lunch of bread fruit smothered in coconut cream and motued accompanied by kalimeta and slippery cabbage reminded me of how much I like living here - the food and the people are both wonderful!

Tuesday, January 27

I practice...being entirely where I am, glamorous or not, and what I find is that it's better to be in one place, wholly and full-heartedly, than a thousand splintery half-places, glamorous as they may be.  ~Shauna Niequiest

HUGE thanks to everyone who was praying for our trip on Sunday!  God answered with one of the best trips we've ever had.

We left SITAG a little bit after 6:30 with a truck full of boxes and extra kids.  The Kosco was filling up rapidly when we arrived, so we didn't get our favorite spot, but we found a space nearby where we could all sit together and keep an eye on our cargo.  As the boys handed the boxes up to the deck of the ship, Roxanne played Tetrus getting the boxes to fit just right together, and soon everything was settled.  Right now, our SITAG family is very small, but they all showed up to encourage and provide support.  Our directors brought a nice hot breakfast for us.  Lots of people (maybe ten?) from Marulaon were also on the ship.  Ten people is like 3% of our population! 
At 8:30, the ship blew its whistle to let visitors know they needed to leave the boat, and just then, Patson and Judy's family (SITAG employees) showed up to shake hands and hug necks.  We were thrilled that they came down, too!  Even though the ship blew its whistle, it still operated on "Solomon Time" and didn't leave until 9:40 (which really isn't late at all).  Some of our friends from Marulaon were sitting nearby, and we enjoyed chatting with them and catching up on the news from the month we had been absent.  God gave us calm seas and overcast skies - we couldn't have asked for better traveling weather.

We arrived in Yandina, the first port, around 2:30, and Aaron went to scout out the market.  He brought back a handful of bananas and some green coconuts.  Usually, we stop at Yandina for a couple of hours, but this time, cargo was unloaded quickly, and we only stayed for an hour.  One more hour brought us to Marulaon.  Thankfully, Kosco switched its port back to Marulaon, which saved us a lot of time and money!  The girls and I went with the first load of cargo with a smiling Belza driving the motor canoe, and Aaron and Benjamin stayed on the Kosco to finish unloading and bring the two rain tanks we brought with us.  What a joy to see so many smiling faces and helping hands!  When we arrived on the porch around 5:30, a little winded from climbing up the hill with loaded arms, I found two beautiful wreaths of flowers with a Happy New Year message written in Lavukaleve for our family.  God knew I needed that little shot of encouragement.  I'm trying to soak up every little thing, knowing that this will be our last visit for a while.  Eta's smile as she looks over her shoulder while carrying a heavy load up the hill, Ofoaen's big hug and "Happy New Year!" as she filled me in on the big wind that had toppled all of the heavy laden banana trees in the village, all of the older kids home from school who will be leaving very soon to begin a new school year.

Monday, we spent almost the whole day washing clothes, mopping, washing every dish, cleaning up gecko poop, unpacking.  But we always make time to pause and play, this time we played a round of Bohnanza in the morning, and we stopped mid-afternoon to walk around and visit before radio sched.  Having older children who know the routine of moving into the village house and who are capable workers makes settling in so much faster and easier.  I feel like we've hardly been gone, one of the reasons is that I got lots of "askims" on Monday!  Bandaids, antifungal meds, sinus meds, and pain reliever, all in one day. 
During Evening Prayer, the cloudy sky began to let loose its heavy burden, and the rain intensified throughout the night.  Heavy winds rose, too, and I found myself praying for my neighbors whose homes aren't as sturdy as mine.  My outside kitchen sustained quite a bit of roof damage from the cyclone a couple of weeks ago, but my neighbors were already battening down their houses in December because they knew that rainy season was ahead.
This morning, Eta came by after breakfast, dressed in long sleeves and layers.  I asked her, "Inu vevea?" (You cold?)  Her response?  "Veveare!"  (I'm cold!)  She did a great job of keeping our yard looking nice while we were gone, and she was bringing four hands of bananas that had been on our banana tree when the cyclone came through.  Eta told me how she distributed any ripe food to the widows in our community, including some of the slippery cabbage that had also been damaged by the heavy winds.  I made sure she had kept some of the food for her own family, and she had.  She is just such a sweetheart!
The Choate team worked hard again today.  Aaron had a long meeting with Hiva, the chairman of the Lavukal Translation Committee.  Benjamin went up on the roof to fix a small plumbing problem and found a nest of baby birds.  He left it alone.  All of the window louvers are now cleaned.  We were going to begin washing the dusty curtains, but since it was still raining, we decided to wait for some sunshine.  But we did get almost all of the books in the house wiped down and checked for insects.  God has been so good to protect our books here.  We've seen some awful damage in other books in Honiara - tunnels bored through books, mildew and mold that have taken over - but thankfully ours have experienced only minimal damage (mostly that musty Solomon's smell!).
We'll be back at school tomorrow and our normal, everyday lives here.  It's really nice to be back in our sweet, peaceful village.  Wherever God puts me is the best place to be, glamorous or not.

Your prayers are working!

UUPlus seems to be doing well, as post e-mails are coming through from Joanna. We’ve had a packed schedule this week that has kept me from assembling the posts, but you should see them start publishing tomorrow evening. Just wanted to let you know that your prayers are being answered!
~Ann H.

Next Generation

Just before our last village trip, we received "The Singing Book" in the mail from our former voice teacher.  Sarah and Edi used the book for voice lessons in November, and Sarah and I continue to explore the gems found inside (like the Moustache Song by Stephen Foster!).

Here's how Aaron worded his thoughts on Facebook:  "My wife and I consider ourselves to be exceedingly blessed to have been able to study with a wonderful vocalist, an accomplished teacher, and a beautiful person. It is a thrill to have her pass on her legacy to yet another generation of Choate singers!"



Dr. Linney is the kind of professor that invests in her students lives outside the studio, too.  We're so grateful for the amazing people God has allowed to cross our paths!

UUPlus

Good morning, friends! Just a quick update to ask for prayers over the UUPlus system. It is running very, very slowly, keeping the Choates from accomplishing much in the way of e-mail communication.

Thanks for praying!

~Ann H.

Safely in Maruloan

The Choates arrived safely in Marulaon around 5:30 last night their time and are settling in. Joanna will write a real post later. Thank you again to all who pray for this precious family! Keep it up!

~Ann H.

We're Off!

Thanks to Benjamin and his teenage buddies, the truck was loaded in twelve minutes yesterday afternoon!

We'll be leaving SITAG in just a little while to make our way down to the wharf and find our favorite space on the Kosco.  Prayers appreciated as we have a full day of travel ahead of us and some intense weeks ahead. 

And a reminder, too, that we will not have internet access and our village e-mail is very limited and unreliable.  But please do comment on the blog while we're gone, I can't moderate comments from the village, but I enjoy reading your thoughts when I come back to Honiara.

Hard Days

"Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."  Psalm 50:14-15

This morning started beautifully.  I love the way the sun makes the flowers behind the house glow like rubies.  Psalm 50 was reminding me to bring a sacrifice of praise to the Lord and to call on Him in the midst of packing chaos.  No matter how many time we move, it never gets easier and I never, ever like it any better.



I grabbed Aaron's parallel Bible and flipped to my favorite passage about praise being a sacrificial offering - Hebrews 13:15-16, this time I read from The Message instead of my usual NIV:  ...pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus' name.  Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others.  God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship -- a different kind of "sacrifice" -- that take place in the kitchen and workplace and on the streets.



Our children have been a fabulous part of Team Choate.  Olivia hung up laundry (the last of the village sheets!), Sara worked on mending, and Benjamin went over to the ERC to finish some loose ends for me on the computer.  Katherine sweetly helped wherever she could.  They all went out to play basketball during their normal PE time, and when they came in, offering a sacrifice of praise got harder and harder.

First, Sarah informed me that she had experienced another heart "episode".  Thank you, Jesus, that she is okay and that I was typing with a prayer partner and had immediate access to an "Aaron and Hur" kind of friend.  Then, Benjamin came in and said that his glasses had been busted by a basketball hitting him in the side of the head.  Sigh.  Thank you, Lord, that Benjamin isn't hurt.  I praise you for strong, healthy bodies with hands willing and able to work.



Aaron had been in town all morning, and when he returned, he brought God's blessings along with him.  Sarah made banana bread for us to share with a Lavukal family who lives full-time in Honiara.  When Aaron went to deliver the bread this morning, he found three friends from Marulaon at the house, too!  We'll all be going back on the ship together on Sunday.



Aaron also swung by the post office and found some boxes waiting for us.  Today was the last day we could have picked them up before leaving for the village.  Our sweet sending church, Highland Heights Baptist Church in Memphis, sent a couple of boxes.  These weren't just any boxes.



Every year we have been overseas, this small but generous church has sent our children Operation Christmas Child boxes for Christmas, plus a few other goodies for the whole family.  And God's timing is always perfect, especially with snail mail.  He knew that today I would need help finding things that were, in my mind, worthy of praise and thanksgiving.  I think the way I expressed my feelings at lunch went something like this:  "I want to run screaming from the house and jump on the first plane headed to America."



 Not only did we receive love in a box from Memphis, but a thoughtful friend from Florida also sent a care package (thanks, Judy!).  When God sent showers of blessings, He sent a deluge!



Hebrews 13 got me started off right this morning, and I think I'll be camping out there for the next few days.  God's Word prepared my heart for the hard day ahead.  The next few days, weeks, months promise to be hard.  Hebrews 13:18 says, "Pray for us.  We have no doubts about what we're doing or why, but it's hard going and we need your prayers.  All we care about is living well before God." 

 I've printed this from A Holy Experience as a bookmark to encourage me through the hard days, too.  Huge thanks to those of you who do such a great job of encouraging me and my family across the ocean! 



Representing the Heart of Christ at the Table

Sarah got up bright and early this morning to prepare morning tea for SICA's (Solomon Island Christian Association) annual meeting as a small thank you to this group for all they do to support Bible translation in the Solomon Islands.

She often makes cookies or breads for SITAG meetings or Bible studies, and it's been really fun to watch her blossom with God's gift of cooking and making things beautiful, nourishing both the body and the eyes.

"When you offer peace instead of division, when you offer faith instead of fear, when you offer someone a place at your table instead of keeping them out because they're different or messy or wrong somehow, you represent the heart of Christ."  ~Shauna Niequist